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Parent played for the Niagara Falls Flyers of the OHA Junior A league. A two-time winner of the Dave Pinkney Trophyy (lowest goals against average or GAA), he wrapped up his junior career by backstopping the team to the OHA championship and the Memorial Cup championship in 1965.

Parent began his career with the struggling Boston Bruins in the 1965–66 season, appearing in 39 games. The following season was split between Boston and the Bruins farm club in Oklahoma.

Left unprotected for the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft, Parent was chosen by the Philadelphia Flyers where he and Doug Favell, another former Bruin prospect, split the netminding duties for the Flyers' first season. Parent recorded a solid 2.48 GAA with 4 shutouts in helping the Flyers finish first in the NHL’s West Division. Over the next two seasons, with Favell performing inconsistently or injured, Parent became the Flyers #1 goalie and appeared in 58 and 62 games for the offensively weak Flyers. Looking for help up front to improve the club’s offence, the Flyers dealt Parent to the Toronto Maple Leafs in January, 1971.

The move proved to be beneficial to Parent, as he joined his boyhood hero, Jacques Plante, who at 42 was having an all-star season. Plante was a wealth of knowledge and experience, a true student of the game. Under his tutelage, Parent became a more consistent and technically proficient goalie. Parent played well for the Leafs through the 1971–72 season, gaining valuable regular season and playoff experience as the team’s workhorse goalie facing the top teams and shooters in the league.

Without a contract with the Leafs in the summer of 1972, Parent signed a large contract with the Miami Screaming Eagles of the newly forming World Hockey Association. He was the first player to ‘jump’ to the WHA. The Miami franchise fizzled and became the Philadelphia Blazers. Parent faced a barrage of shots in 63 regular season games for the Blazers in the defensively weak league. After leaving the team over a contract dispute during the 1973 WHA playoffs, he sought a return to the NHL but did not wish to return to the Leafs. Toronto traded Parent’s NHL rights back to the Flyers for Doug Favell and a first round pick in that summer’s (1973) amateur draft.

The next two seasons were the greatest of his career. Playing 73 games in a 78 game schedule, Parent sparkled in leading the league with a 1.89 GAA and 12 shutouts. He shared the Vezina Trophy with Chicago’s Tony Esposito and was named a first team all-star in leading the Flyers to a first place finish in the West Division. He finished the year in fine style, taking the Conn Smythe Trophy while leading the Flyers to the first of two Stanley Cup Championships. The following year was much of the same, adding another Vezina Trophy to a second Conn Smythe Trophy and Stanley Cup. A lost statistic is the fact that Parent played on a team that lead the NHL in penalty minutes thus killing penalties (Dave Schultz alone had 472 in one season). “Only the Lord saves more than Bernie Parent” became a catch-phrase and bumper sticker in the city of brotherly love in those years.

Following the championship seasons, Parent was sidelined by injury and appeared in only 11 games in 1975–76. Over the next three seasons, he played well overall but experienced difficulties at times. Jacques Plante, although in retirement, continued to have a strong influence on Parent's career. Parent, like Plante, was always a stand-up type goalie. At one point Parent was playing poorly and considering retirement. Plante watched him practice in Philadelphia for two days, then told Parent exactly what he was doing wrong - sitting back on his heels, backing into his crease and losing concentration. Parent heeded Plante's advice and rebounded to form.

Bernie Parent on the cover of Time

In February 1979, Parent's career was cut short by a career ending eye injury in a game against the New York Rangers. An errant stick entered the right eye hole of his mask causing permanent damage to his vision. This incident is significant as it caused many NHL goalies to switch from fibreglass facemasks toward the cage and helmet style, and resulted in many amateur and junior leagues banning fiberglass masks altogether, mandating the helmet/cage combo.

After Parent's retirement, the Flyers retired his jersey number (1) in his honor.

Parent spent several years in the Flyers organization as goaltending coach, and is credited with mentoring future Vezina-winning goalies Ron Hextall and the late Pelle Lindbergh, the latter of whom idolized Parent as a youngster from afar in his native Sweden.

Previously held the mark for most wins in a season (47), surpassed by New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur during the 2006–07 season with 48 wins, though Parent didn't have the benefit of overtime or shootouts in his era. Because of this his 47 win season in 1973–74 is still the record for most regulation time wins in a single season.

Fourth hockey player and third goalie to appear on the cover of Time Magazine. (Lorne Chabot was first.)